I Set a Table Before You: The Jewish Mystical Character of Aseneth's Conversion Meal

Food is a powerful symbol in Joseph and Aseneth in that it sharply defines the social boundaries that are so important to the text as a whole. Jews and Gentiles portrayed in the novella differ primarily with respect to their theological beliefs, and this difference is both reflected and incorporated through acts of eating. Employing classical anthropological and sociological approaches to the relationship between sacrificial meals and kinship, this essay explores the symbolic and literary function of the conversion meal in Joseph and Aseneth. Viewed as a symbolic expression of mediation between humanity and the divine, Aseneth’s meal is compared with similar passages from Philo and Rabbinic literature that depict mystical or eschatological meal scenes.